One Fine Morning
by DreamsofEternalBliss
Summary: What would you do if you awoke one morning to find that the entire Hogwarts faculty had mysteriously disappeared? Hermione finds herself allowing and doing things with her new found freedom that she never expected - and finds herself enjoying it.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hermione Granger stood for many things – education, friendship, loyalty, equal rights, truth and even love. But there was one thing she certainly did not stand for, and that was complete pandemonium.

And this was the exact sight that met her eyes one morning in the Great Hall when it was discovered that all the teachers and staff, every single one, had mysteriously disappeared. Not even Filch and Mrs. Norris were to be found handing out punishments for all the unruly behaviour being displayed left right and centre.

A food fight had broken out at the Slytherin table, and the nearby floor was slippery with scrambled eggs and milk, as were many of the students. Luna Lovegood, joined by many other Ravenclaws, was dancing erratically on the table, kicking breakfast dishes to the floor to make more room. Gold and silver sparks were erupting in clouds over the Hufflepuff table to shouts and squeals of laughter. Broomsticks zoomed overhead, revealing the Gryffindor Quidditch team who had started a game with a large melon.

Hermione spotted Draco Malfoy, her Head Boy counterpart, at the opposite end of the Hall, shielding himself with a huge silver tray against the onslaught of his fellow Slytherins. He was trying to reason with them over the top of the over-size piece of serving ware, but had so far got no further than getting more students to join in.

_Enough is enough_, Hermione thought to herself. She pulled out her wand from within the folds of her robes and sent a bolt of blue light towards the roof where it exploded with the noise of a canon and showered the room in sparks. Silence immediately fell.

"I know we're all excited about this sudden and new found freedom, but could everyone please hold it in for a few minutes while I figure out what on earth is going on!" The angry tone in Hermione's voice that no one had heard before coupled with the if-looks-could-kill death stare she was beaming at them all were enough to subdue the crowd.

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team landed, somewhat sheepishly, and took their seats at the table.

"Malfoy," Hermione growled, "a word?"

Draco dropped the silver tray he was still holding protectively in front of his torso with a clang and strode the length of the Great Hall. As he walked, he wiped a sliver of egg from his cheek with a sleeve.

"What were you doing?" Hermione whispered angrily as soon as Draco reached her. She seized his arm and pulled him closer to the open doors to avoid being overheard.

"I was trying to recall some sort of order before you came barging in!" Draco whispered back, a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

"Oh yeah, and that was really working for you."

"Well, Mrs. High-and-Mighty, I'm sorry I couldn't just pull out my wand and stop everyone in their tracks with an overdramatic bang."

"Why not?"

For the first time in their whispered argument, Draco faltered and actually blushed. "I, uh, I sort of left my wand in my dorm this morning," he mumbled, running a hand embarrassedly through his blonde hair. His eyes directed to the ground, the flush in his cheeks deepened.

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed as one who is defeated. "Great."

The rest of the school was starting to become restless; a low murmur had arisen, indicating that the students were also whispering amongst themselves. The risk of another outburst grew with every second that passed.

"We have to do something," Draco muttered, clearly in an effort to change the subject. He glanced nervously over his shoulder. "What do you think happened anyway? I can't imagine that the teachers would just up and leave without even saying anything."

"You're right," Hermione said, her sense of claiming authority and responsibility overcoming her exasperation at Draco's stupidity. "First, we'll send everyone back to their common rooms and put the Prefects in charge, then we'll go to the staff room and try to figure this out."

At a nod from Draco, Hermione turned back to the school. She cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention once again; they were, after all, eager for any information.

"Given the circumstances," she said in a clear voice, "all classes will be cancelled until further notice."

The students erupted in a torrent of noise; cheering, clapping, and screaming filled their ears, making it impossible to hear anything else. Hermione waved her hands in an effort to control the school, but to no avail. It seemed that the prospect of so much free time had sent the students utterly mad.

Just when it appeared that the Head's had lost all semblance of control, Draco stepped up to the plate. He put his fingers in his mouth and blew one hard long whistle that echoed shrilly in the cavernous Great Hall. Silence fell yet again, many students putting their hands to their ears in an effort to drown out the sound.

"Alright!" he shouted, his customary arrogant façade in place once more, "Listen up! Could the Prefects please escort their houses back to their common rooms in an orderly fashion – and make sure they stay there! Hermione and I will be in touch when we have more answers. Now move it, people!"

The room was filled with the dull scraping of wood on stone as the students got to their feet and filed out of the Great Hall behind their allocated Prefects. The low murmur had arisen again, mostly complaints at being confined in the dormitories. Draco leaned back against the heavy oak doors, trademark smirk on his face, watching his orders being followed.

"I suppose you think you're a bit of hero," Hermione said, her arms folded across her chest also watching the students leave.

Draco's smirk grew wider, "You can't argue with the results."

The last of the students disappeared up the staircase or down one of the passageways leading to the dungeons or the kitchens with Prefects following to make sure there were no dawdlers. Hermione also made a move towards the doors, a sly smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Go get your wand, Superman," she said, patting Draco a couple of times on the shoulder. She sauntered out of the Great Hall and up the staircase. "I'll meet you in the staff room," she called over her shoulder before she disappeared.

Mentally punching himself, Draco jogged across the Entrance Hall and down the stairs leading towards the dungeons. He could still hear the echoes of the other Slytherin students who had not yet reached the common room. He reached the concealed doorway just behind the last students and their ushering Prefect, Malcolm Baddock, who Draco knew well.

Once he had collected his wand and disentangled himself from the students demanding answers and, for some, the freedom to roam the school regardless of what 'that Granger' said, Draco almost ran to the main part of the castle and up what felt like hundreds of flights of stairs. He finally skidded to a halt outside the staff room and took a moment to readjust himself and catch his breath before opening the door.

Hermione was perched on a corner of the huge wooden table with her legs crossed, twirling her wand absentmindedly in her fingers. Waiting.

"Sorry I took so long," Draco said, suddenly becoming very aware of how flustered and ruffled he must look. He remembered the wand clutched in his hand and half lifted it, indicating that he had it before quickly stuffing it inside his robes, feeling a bit of a fool.

Hermione laughed. "Well, while you've been running around all over the castle looking for your wand, I've been doing some work of my own." She slipped off the table and produced a sleeve of parchment that unraveled down to the floor on which she had written a list.

"What's that?" Draco asked apprehensively, knowing full well Hermione's tendency to over prepare. He reached out a hand and took the paper, scanning the first item listed – 1. Notify parents of the situation.

"It's just a list of all the things we need to do," Hermione answered matter-of-factly. "I thought if we wrote them out it would be easier to follow."

"Of course you did," Draco muttered under his breath. His view of Hermione was obscured by the parchment he held in front of his face, but if he had have looked up he would have seen the hurt expression that momentarily crossed Hermione's face that meant she had heard what he said.

After a pause, in which Draco shook his head and raised his eyebrows numerous times, he tossed the parchment carelessly onto the table. "Notify everyone's parents? The Ministry of Magic? Granger, come on, we have to be smart about this."

"And what, exactly is unintelligent about sending everyone home? They can't stay here - the teacher's are missing if you hadn't noticed," Hermione snapped, snatching up her meticulous list and hugging it to her chest.

"If we tell the parents, and the Ministry, there'll be an investigation."

"And so there should be!" Hermione exclaimed, "This is serious, Malfoy; why would every Hogwarts staff member just disappear for no apparent reason? There's obvious foul play involved and something needs to be done about it now!"

"I'm not saying something won't be done – just hear me out, ok?" Draco's tone had changed from argumentative to reasoning. "We tell the school not to tell anyone on the outside what's happened, and then we try and get to the bottom of this. I mean, for all we know, they're on some teaching retreat in the Forbidden Forest and they'll be back by dinner. If nothing's turned up in a few days, then we'll get the Ministry involved, ok?"

Every fibre of Hermione's being screamed that this was a bad idea. When they finally got the Ministry involved there was sure to be questions about why it took the Head Girl and Boy, the leaders of the school, so long to tell anyone. Maybe they'd even be suspected of being involved…

"Jesus, Granger," Draco broke through Hermione's thoughts. "I know you don't trust me, but just live a little. If not to satisfy my own curiosities, do it for yourself."

In a moment of definite insanity, Hermione pushed all of the little voices in her head telling her not to be stupid into a tiny compartment of her mind and locked it. She looked up, resolve in her eyes.

"Ok."


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry it's taken me so long to update - I've had exams, and then my laptop was in the shop getting fixed so I've only just gotten access to my stories back!_

Chapter 2

Later that morning, after Hermione and Draco had visited all four common rooms and recited the same speech instructing the students not to tell their parents that the teachers were gone, the Head Girl and Boy made their way down to the kitchens to check that the house elves who worked down there hadn't disappeared too. Draco muttered about not caring where the wretched servants were until Hermione reminded him that the elves did all the cooking and cleaning around the castle and, if they too had disappeared, then the students would be forced to do it themselves.

After a few minutes walk, they reached the painting of a bowl of fruit that concealed the human's entrance to the kitchens. Draco stared first at the canvas, and then at Hermione.

"This is the entrance to the kitchens?"

"Sure is," Hermione replied smugly, reaching out a finger and tickling the pear. It squirmed and suddenly, with a groan, the painting swung forwards to reveal a wide hole.

She smirked at Draco before stepping forwards and climbing as daintily as she could through the gap. With a shrug, Draco followed her. On the other side, house elves were bustling around the kitchen preparing lunch, but one by one they stopped, facing the door, when they noticed the intruders.

"Hermione Granger, miss!" a familiar high-pitched voice piped up from somewhere in the back. Dobby the house elf, who absolutely doted on Harry, pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "Is Harry Potter with you?"

"Um, no he's not," Hermione said awkwardly. She had never quite understood Dobby's fascination. "Dobby, I'm here because something's happened to the teachers. Do you, or any of the other house elves, have any idea of where they've gone?"

There were some shocked squeaks from the elves and they began to crowd closer. Hermione took that as a sign that they had no idea what happened and was starting to regret coming down. As much as she supported elf rights, they sure drove her nuts with their little squeaky voices and continuous courteousness.

"Well, if none of you have any information," Draco said as he began backing away towards the door. "We just wanted to check that you were all still here and to tell you that you should keep sending meals up to the Great Hall and cleaning and all that – the rest of the school hasn't disappeared after all." He reached the door and pushed it open, wishing that the elves would stop glaring at him.

"And if any of you notice anything at all that could help us figure out where the teachers went, could you please let either of us know?" Hermione added, pasting her best and most persuasive smile onto her face. "We would greatly appreciate your help."

The elves faces instantly split into smiles and they began nodding their little heads madly. A group of them suddenly produced trays of cakes and pastries that they carried high above their heads around the kitchen towards the place where Hermione stood. Their shrill voices asked if she wanted anything to eat or drink and whether she wanted any to take away with her.

Shaking her head, Hermione too began to back towards Draco who was now half out of the doorway. She thanked the elves several times and promised to come back with updates on the teacher situation and managed to slip out of the hole behind Draco who shut it quickly behind her.

"What on earth did that achieve?" he snapped, turning on his heel and marching up the passageway. "Complete waste of time, talking to the help for God's sake!"

"At least we know that we're going to get fed," Hermione defended herself, hurrying to catch up.

They walked in silence until they reached the Entrance Hall which was still empty as the students were forbidden from leaving their common rooms until lunch. There Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but shut it almost straight away and turned towards the staircase.

"What?" Draco asked, a curious expression crossing his face.

"Nothing," Hermione shrugged, turning back to face him.

"You were going to say something."

"It was nothing." Hermione's cheeks flushed pink.

"I'm sure, just say it and get this over with."

"I was only going to say that this is the longest we've spent together without insulting each other. I guess it's true what they say about dire circumstances forcing people to work together."

Draco smirked and folded his arms across his chest. "Don't get too used to it. This is only working because it suits me to do so. The moment the school is put back to rights or you're sickening goodness gets on my nerves, which is probably more likely, _this_ is over."

Hermione rolled her eyes and began ascending the staircase. "I'll see you at lunch, Malfoy," she called over her shoulder.

"Yes, you will," Draco said under his breath, his smirk still fixed in place.

When Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room, it felt and sounded as if she had stepped into the middle of a Quidditch match. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs and it seemed as if someone had got a hold of some Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks as the room was constantly being showered in sparks from rockets shooting overhead.

Not even bothering to try and stop the mayhem, Hermione slipped unnoticed around the edges of the room to a back corner where she had spotted Harry and Ron playing chess. She sank into the seat next to Ron just as one of Harry's pawns was clobbered and dragged off the board.

"Where've you been?" Harry asked without even looking up from the game.

"Sorting this whole mess out," Hermione replied with a sigh, "Oh, Ron – Harry's left his castle wide open."

With a chuckle Ron directed his knight to the square where Harry's unprotected castle sat and watched as it was smashed to pieces. "So have the letters to the parents gone out yet? That's why everyone's like this; making the most of it I suppose."

Hermione sat up a little straighter. "No," she said stiffly, "Weren't you listening when we made the announcements before?" She suddenly became very interested in polishing her fingernails on the hem of her robes.

Harry laughed. "We know that's what Malfoy was telling everyone, but come on, Hermione, we all know you're going to tell. The Minister himself is probably on his way here right now."

"Sorry to disappoint you both, but I assume the Minister is sitting in his office all the way back in London. At least, he is for a few days." Hermione had finished polishing her nails but still kept her eyes focused on her lap, hoping the boys wouldn't notice the hotness in her cheeks.

Harry and Ron were silent, their attention completely diverted from the chess board between them. One of Harry's pawns, about to get pulverized by Ron's bishop, turned on its tale and ran with no one to direct it.

"You're serious?" Harry's jaw had dropped. "You're actually following what is quite clearly one of Malfoy's plans? I can't believe this, Hermione – he's up to something and you're just letting him get away with it!"

"Up to something?" Hermione looked up, anger flashing in her eyes and her cheeks becoming redder, but this time in defiance rather than embarrassment. "Do you even hear yourself, Harry? You always think Malfoy's up to something, I mean sure the guy's father is a Deatheater - "

"Exactly, a Deatheater!" Harry interrupted, "The guy practically grew up sitting on Voldemort's lap!"

"But," Hermione cut across him, "It was never proven that Malfoy joined. He doesn't have the Dark Mark which means he was never initiated. Regardless of what his dad has done, Malfoy has been cleared. Do you honestly think Professor Dumbledore would've let him come back to school, make him Head Boy even, if he thought that there was any possibility Malfoy was on the wrong side?"

Ron began mumbling about packing up the chess board and started collecting up the pieces who, amongst all the mayhem, were trying to escape off the table.

"Why are you defending him?" Harry's voice had risen above the noise of the common room, and some of the people sitting nearby were starting to turn around and stare.

"He's Head Boy; I have to work with him and, as much as I loathe and despise his very being, it's easier if I just try to get along with him. What kind of message would I be sending if I went back on every decision he made?" Hermione's voice cracked and she was close to tears. How many times had she had this exact same conversation with Harry over the year, and how many times had it ended with him attacking her and her in tears? Suddenly composed, she stood up, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked, joining the conversation for the first time since it had started. He had finished packing up the chess game and was in the process of trying to slot it into his bag.

"I have Head things to do," Hermione said scathingly, her gaze fixed firmly on Harry's face. She turned on her heel and walked through the, now silent, common room towards the portrait hole. Everyone fell back and made a path for her, staring, waiting for her to snap. She reached the door, however, without faltering and left without another word.

She walked without thinking, letting her feet take her wherever they wanted to go. Her school shoes making slight thudding sounds as they hit the flagstones that made the castle floors, Hermione found herself treading the familiar path to the library. It was deserted, everyone still being confined to their Houses, but this was exactly how she preferred it. She walked down a random aisle, running a hand along the hundreds of volumes literally at her fingertips before stopping and pulling a heavy leather-bound book off the shelf.

It was sheer coincidence that ten minutes later, Draco also walked into the library, seeking the solace of somewhere quiet yet familiar. He slipped into the room and took a deep breath, relishing in the scent of musty novels and knowledge. He would never admit it to anyone, but he loved the library and the infinite amount of facts that it provided him with.

After a few steps, he spotted Hermione sitting on a table about halfway down the room. She seemed so at peace, and it struck Draco how he had never before seen her like this. Her legs were crossed in a way that defined the muscles in her calves as well as causing her skirt to ride up higher on her thigh then she would have let it given normal circumstances. She'd pushed the sleeves of her baggy shirt and jumper up, and her hair hung in a curtain around her face, hiding Draco from her view.

He took a few steps back towards the door which he gently nudged open. He wasn't going to bother her in probably the only moment of peace they would both get that day. As he slipped through the small gap he had allowed himself, he stole another glance at the Head Girl and whispered "I'll see you at lunch, Granger."


End file.
